No fewer than 16 people have been rescued from human traffickers in Kenya.
According to Kenyan security forces, the trafficking ring was busted along the Marsabit-Isiolo highway in Northern Kenya.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), in a police report, said six suspects, who were ferrying the foreigners aboard three vehicles were arrested during an early Wednesday operation.
The DCI added that the victims, who are of Ethiopian origin, are minors and had no relevant documents in their possession.
They will be charged for being unlawfully present in the country while their Kenyan drivers will face human smuggling charges, the DCI said.
The DCI said the suspects will be arraigned in court to answer to charges of human trafficking.
Cases of human trafficking in Kenya is rampant. In January, Kenya’s prosecution service reports that it currently handles 30 cases of human trafficking.
In 2019, authorities rescued one Lucia Nekesa, who was recruited as a domestic worker to Qatar by a Kenyan employment agency. Nekesa found herself in Iraq instead.
After her rescue, she spoke of being abused and trafficked six times in 10 months before being rescued in September 2019 by the Kenyan government with the help of the International Organization for Migration and HAKI Africa.